


your secrets are safe with me

by darkesky



Series: Voltron (!!!) [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Episode: s01e03 Return of the Gladiator, Gen, Language, Nicknames, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:55:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25797772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkesky/pseuds/darkesky
Summary: "Shiro, would your nickname be the Champion then?”He stiffened as the word washed over him.In the back of his mind, something started to pulse and beat, an angry memory threatening to surface. And while it passed just as fast, he knew he’d be thinking about this moment for awhile. How does he explain how much he hated that nickname? Especially when champions were usually proud—“It’s a shitty nickname,” interrupted Keith.“Yeah. We’re going to come up with something a lot better than that.” Pidge paused, a mischievous glint entering her eyes. “It’s almost too bad Hunk’s taken.”---After the events of episode three, the team unwinds and actually acts like a team (while somewhat bullying Shiro)
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Voltron (!!!) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862047
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	your secrets are safe with me

**Author's Note:**

> aaand we're back! though the updates might be coming a little slower, i'm really enjoying writing this series (and i might do something similar with avatar if i'm interested because that is the SECOND TV show i'm getting bullied about~)

Everybody who ever got close to Shiro called him a creature of habit. If he could continue his routine, he wouldn’t deviate from its path. As a result, he didn’t know much about the castle. He knew the way to the training deck; he spent almost too much time there. He knew the way to his bedroom, the mess hall, the bathrooms, and the hangar for the lions. Otherwise, he remained blissfully ignorant.

He never took to roaming the halls in his free time to find every secret the Alteans had. From experience, he bumped into both Keith and Lance doing just that. Keith brushed it off, always restless, always a little flighty. Lance deflected with some ridiculous excuse Shiro can’t remember. 

Pidge— _ Katie— _ found no need to leave her bedroom. Every day he visited her there, she added something to occupy her time. At the moment, her device of choice mimicked some kind of laptop or iPad; he doesn’t understand it. She, however, spent most of her time finding more and more answers to the galaxy, and he couldn’t fault her for that… She also spent much of her time searching for clues of the rest of her family. 

And Hunk, the one he knew the least about, preferred the kitchen. One day of food goo was enough to coax him there, trying to find a better way to feed the rest of the Paladins. He suspected it came from the need to cook. Pidge confirmed it, in an offhanded way, when she said he always used to cook when he got nervous. It’s what he did to calm his nerves, and all of them were on edge lately. 

Shiro wouldn’t claim any part of the castle put him more at ease, but the infirmary would not make the top of that list.

“Calm down,” he murmured to Keith, debating whether or not to put his hand on the boy’s bouncing leg. Sometimes, touch helped him. Sometimes, it’d be what set him over the edge and flying from the room.

His fists bunched the fabric on his legs. “I  _ am  _ calm.”

“Coran won’t do anything invasive. He just wants to give us a quick checkup.” And Shiro couldn’t blame him. The number of the times that orb beat them around meant someone walked away with an injury. He caught Hunk favoring his left leg, and even Pidge winced when she hugged him, her ribs a little sore. 

Keith relaxed his grip, just a little. “I can do that myself.”

“You  _ can,”  _ Shiro agreed, “but you don’t have to.”

Before Keith can come up with an argument (and he would’ve), Allura swept into the room. She changed back into her dress, and she let her curls cascade down her back once more. “Paladins! What a fine job you did today!”

“Yeah, it only took fifty tries,” Keith muttered.

Deciding to bridge the gap, he knocked their shoulders together. “But we got it eventually.”

“And!” Lance clapped his hands together, eyes glowing. “Hunk didn’t even puke!”

Hunk froze, mid-conversation with Coran. The older man was feeling along his calf, probably seeking out the injury, but he scrambled back and pumped a fist in the air. “You’re right! I didn’t even notice! Guys, I didn’t throw up!”

“Congrats?” Keith furrowed his brow, confused.

Pidge laughed. “Finally!”

“Finally!” Hunk offered a bright smile, and the three from the Garrison shared a moment. Shiro watched it with quiet interest. While he attempted to make sure they bonded as a team, they divided into groups more often than not. Keith preferred to be on his own, and if someone dragged him into the team, it was always Shiro. And those three kept gravitating back towards each other, unable to shake the influence of the Garrison. 

Coran cleared his throat, as politely as he ever did anything. “I’m proud of you, Number Two, but stop wiggling around! You Paladins are so fragile this time around!”

“Well, that’s humans for you.” Pidge leaned forward, narrowing her eyes at Allura. The princess didn’t notice. “Can you guys take more hits than we can? Is your pain threshold higher than ours?”

“Pidgeon, when were you interested in biology?” Lance reached over to try and swat at her, but she dodged easily and scowled.

He met her eye. “Pidgeon?”

“It’s a stupid nickname.” She crossed her arms and huffed. “It’s especially stupid because Pidgeon has two syllables, and Pidge only has one, so you’re making things more difficult. That’s not the point of a nickname.”

“A nickname?” Allura cocked her head. “I’m confused—”

“It’s something you call someone other than their name,” Shiro said quickly, answering the question before Lance could twist its meaning. He paused then, though, and he turned towards Hunk. “Is… Is Hunk your real name?”

“Uh.” Hunk’s cheeks started to flood red while Lance hooted with laughter. “Oh, shut up!”

“Is there a story here?” Shiro asked, amused.

Lance nodded, almost about to tear up. “Mama Garrett called him Hunk growing up because he’s  _ such  _ a lady’s man—”

“He’s a  _ what?”  _ Pidge sat up straight, voice going very high in her excitement. He wondered how she ever thought she could pass as a boy. Then again, she looked almost  _ identical  _ to Matt… Which would always be a disarming part of her presence.

“Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking,” Hunk started to chant under his breath.

“He’s a real  _ hunk  _ of a man. A real charmer growing up.” Lance nudged him, and Hunk stared at him, horrified. “Yeah, he had at least  _ five  _ fake marriages in kindergarten. It was scary.”

_ “Five  _ fake marriages? Well, I get it now!” Pidge laughed before pretending to wolf whistle. “He is a hunk.”

“I’m confused—” Allura started again.

Coran threw out his arms. “Don’t worry! I understand this one! A hunk is a very attractive specimen in a species—”

Whatever he said next got drowned out by Lance and Pidge’s growing laughter.

As it started to die down, Shiro cleared his throat. “What’s your first name then, Hunk? I’m… A little shocked you chose to keep going by Hunk.”

“Oh… Nobody can pronounce my first name, so I just started going by Hunk so I didn’t have to correct, like, subs—”

“Bullshit,” singsonged Lance. “I can pronounce it.”

Pidge nodded. “Uh, I can too.”

“You guys—”

“Makanaokeakua,” both recited in unison. 

And while Hunk remained red, a softer smile graced his face, pleased with their pronunciation. Keith gaped, though. “I… Don’t think I could get that.”

“But you could get Hunk!”

“And we’ll all get it one day. We’ll put the effort in, Hunk, promise.” Shiro offered his best smile. He got a decent amount of people butchering his name, and he never considered it especially difficult. “Though I didn’t know that about you.”

“Well, I’ve gone by this nickname for so long it’s become my actual name.”

Allura nodded. “Okay, I think I get the nickname business. We called it something difficult on Altea… Shiro, would your nickname be the Champion then?”

He stiffened as the word washed over him. 

In the back of his mind, something started to pulse and beat, an angry memory threatening to surface. And while it passed just as fast, he knew he’d be thinking about this moment for awhile. How does he explain how much he hated that nickname? Especially when champions were usually proud—

“It’s a shitty nickname,” interrupted Keith.

“Yeah. We’re going to come up with something a lot better than  _ that.”  _ Pidge paused, a mischievous glint entering her eyes. “It’s almost too bad  _ Hunk’s  _ taken.”

She got both of them to go red at that one, and Lance laughed again, obnoxious enough they forgot all about the Champion.

-

He regretted giving them the day off.

Yet, all of them still felt a little banged up from the confrontation yesterday, so he thought they’d enjoy a day to recuperate. He  _ didn’t  _ expect Lance to run, room from room, insisting everyone come and play soccer with him. Shiro doesn’t know where he came up with the rubber ball, but he imagined he convinced some of the local children to hand it over.

Now, they played a very lackluster yet competitive game of soccer with only seven of them. They allowed Shiro and Allura to be team captains since, apparently, they were the leaders of the bunch, and they got to pick their teammates.

On Shiro’s team, he had Keith and Hunk.

On Allura’s team, she had Coran, Lance, and Pidge.

“We’re not playing this right,” Hunk announced as Lance and Keith squared off in the center of the room. “The face-off is, like, a hockey thing.”

“I think it’s an every sport thing,” Lance argued, not pulling his eyes from the ball. He bounced from foot to foot, getting ready to swing out at the ball. Keith stayed perfectly still in contrast, eyes glinting with the challenge. “I watched more sports than you too; you always watched, like, reruns of cooking shows.”

“You didn’t watch sports either! That one wedding dress show was on at the same time—”

Pidge hooted. “Lance, you watched  _ Say Yes to the Dress?” _

“First off, you knew the show off the top of your head, so obviously, you watched it too. And second, duh. It’s glamorous and beautiful.” He snorted.

At that moment, the timer went off, and Keith lunged forward, stealing the ball and sending it barreling towards the other goal. 

Coran yelped and dove, falling over himself, blocking the ball with his body. It went flying up in the air, and Hunk hurried over to kick it back towards their goal. “You can’t do that unless you’re the goalie!”

“Goalie?”

“We don’t have enough people around to have goalies!” Hunk started dribbling down the court, and Pidge leapt in front of him with a huge, toothy smile. “Oh, come on.”

“Sorry, Hunk. We play to win on Team Better Half.” Pidge swooped in between, stealing the ball with ease, but Hunk leapt to the side and let Pidge crash into him. She yelped, and he let out a bright laugh before gesturing frantically at the ball, insisting Keith take off after the ball again—which he did. 

Shiro paused. “Better half?”

“Better half of Voltron,” Lance cooed as he darted after Keith. “The better leg, the better arm, and the better head.”

“And I thought I was the only head?” He turned to catch Allura’s eye.

The princess giggled a little, ducking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I couldn’t dissuade them from this, Shiro, I apologize. I told them I don’t qualify as the ‘head’ of Voltron since I’m not a paladin, but they said I counted because I was…”

“Space Mom,” Coran helpfully filled in. 

Shiro cocked an eyebrow. “Space Mom? Does that make me Space Dad? I’m not that much older than you.”

“Really, old man?” Keith tossed over his shoulder as he bodychecked Lance to get the ball. As the blue paladin crashed towards the ground, he let out a loud, shocked scoff. “Then why don’t you come over and play with us instead of just watching? At least Allura and Coran have a reason.”

“And we’re still beating you guys! And this isn’t football! You can’t tackle me!” Lance scrambled upwards, lunging after him. Then, he managed to grab ahold of Keith’s ankle and send  _ him  _ towards the ground. 

Keith slammed against the soccer ball and rolled. “This  _ is  _ football! And now who’s playing dirty?”

“Hey, you started it!” Also knocked to his stomach, he lunged for the ball with his hands to bat it towards the goal. Pausing, Keith shifted over and managed to get into a full tackle. Lance bucked, and the two of them went rolling on top of each other, turning this into more of a wrestling match. 

Before Shiro could attempt to break it up, Allura slipped up to him with a fond smile. “Perhaps we should just let them get it out of their system.”

“Perhaps.” He rolled his eyes at the two idiots who started to shout at each other. Both of them used surprisingly childish insults; maybe they were right. He definitely  _ felt  _ too old to deal with them.

Pidge growled. “Lance, get your ass up! We’re going to lose the game if you keep this up!”

“Language,” Shiro called casually.

Hunk intercepted the ball and switched direction. 

Pidge hammered after him. 

Coran managed to send all three of them falling to the ground, and the ball rolled to a stop at his toe. With nobody to stop it, he kicked it into the goal with one well-aimed swing. Allura gawked at him, and the room fell silent briefly.

Then, Lance rolled off Keith and sprung to his feet, cheeks red with exertion. “You’re cheating! Shiro cheats!”

“Shiro is just playing the game  _ fairly.”  _ Pushing off of the ground, Keith scowled at him. When Lance went to say something, he groaned and threw up his hands. “I’m so sick of this stupid conversation.  _ And  _ this stupid game. Shiro gave us the day off, and I’m going to enjoy time  _ away  _ from you.”

“Rude!” Lance slapped a hand against his heart and staggered straight into Keith, forcing the other boy to catch him. As he smirked up at him, he pushed him away. “‘Sides, you’re only saying that because you’re losing.”

“L-losing? Shiro scored the only point!” He’s practically spitting, so angry. Once again, Shiro debated stepping in, but Allura put a hand on his shoulder with a less-than-convincing smile. “And at least I know how to kick!”

“I know how to kick!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, turn around and I’ll kick your ass to prove it!”

“You—”

“Language!” Shiro raised his voice loud enough to break up the argument. Hunk scurried in between the two of them, planting a hand on both of their chests and forcing them away from each other. He gave the other boy an appreciative nod; he really needed to spend some more one-on-one time with Hunk. There was so much he didn’t know about the boy, and unlike Lance, he didn’t advertise it.

Pidge snorted, and he rounded on her. “Is something funny?”

“You just went all Space Dad on their ass.” 

“Lan—”

“Language, I know, we have to keep it PG because everyone in this room is so young.” Pidge rolled her eyes. Then, she spun around and pointed at the two of them. “But they’re both right. This game was dumb and stupid.”

“You’re only saying that because you lost,” Hunk said.

She threw up a hand. “Did I ask for your opinion? No. And Space Dad is going to get sick of enforcing the fucking swear jar—” 

“Fucking?” Coran asked, cocking his head at the new word.

Hunk waved his arms frantically, changing the subject. “It doesn't matter! It’d go in the swear jar!”

“Does quiznak go in the jar?”

“Lance, shut the hell up.” Pidge winked at Shiro, who rolled his eyes, before clapping her hands together. “I have an idea of my own. I actually, uh, found it yesterday and spent way too much time refining it.”

-

In Pidge’s defense, she did try and make a good game for the whole group to play. He will have to pull her aside again and praise her on her work. He doesn’t understand how every Holt he’s met got blessed with the greatest mind he has ever known. Genetics screwed up somewhere along the way.

However, she expected a little too much of them. 

Allura and Coran picked up the card game with great ease; they, apparently, played it often on Altea. Everyone else floundered with the new rules, though. Keith threw down his cards more than once, and Hunk just kept asking for clarification on the rules. 

They started playing Go Fish instead. The Alteans picked up on it faster, and it just made more sense for everyone involved.

“I like the color scheme,” Hunk said, putting down his book of cards. Shiro shifted to get a better view of it. Instead of the traditional spades, hearts, clubs, and clovers, this deck came with some kind of crystal, a lion head, the same mark Allura bore on her cheek, and a heart (the only similarity). “I don’t really get it, but I like it.”

“Yeah, how do they decide which ones to make blue?” Lance shuffled his deck, probably seeking out the blue cards.

Pidge snorted. “This is why you guys sucked at the last game. You had to pay attention to the symbol  _ and  _ the color.”

“Yeah, and why are there five colors?” Keith grumbled.

Coran brightened. “I thought that would be obvious, Number Two! They represent the five Lions of Voltron! Black, Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue! We thought it best to put Voltron into all of our celebrations! After all, we’d hate to upset the Lions in any way… There’s a reason the Arusians presumed Voltron to be a Lion Goddess!”

“But the lions are male,” Hunk said. 

Shiro shrugged. “Sometimes, they get it wrong—”

“The lions aren’t all female?” Lance’s eyes went wide before his head snapped over to where the lion hangar would, presumably, be. “Wait, but…”

“The Black Lion and the Yellow Lion are both males. The other three are female. Yet, for the sake of convenience, we refer to them as the Lions of Voltron rather than the Lions or Lionesses.” Allura paused. “Or, at least, that’s what I heard. I’ve never connected with a lion myself, so I could be mistaken.”

“Blue’s a woman,” Lance said. “She’s a gorgeous, stunning,  _ dazzling  _ woman.”

“Do you have a crush on your lion?” Keith blinked, disbelief coloring his tone.

He shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because it’s a lion!” he spluttered. “I wouldn’t have a crush on Red. That’s weird and creepy and—”

Pidge leaned in and whispered to Shiro. “He’s too busy having a crush on Lance.”

Shiro snorted, and Keith whipped around, betrayed. He offered his most charming smile, hoping he didn’t ask him to explain what Pidge said. When Keith huffed, he knew he was in the clear.

Then, Keith turned to him. “Shiro, got any eights?”

“Shit.”

“Space Dad!” Lance gasped.

Hunk glanced around the group, eyes going wide. “Yeah, Lance is right. If you start cussing, Shiro, the rest of us are going to start. It’s just how that one works. I’m sorry. You have a higher standard.”

“He said the fuck word,” Pidge singsonged.

“I don’t get why humans are obsessed with that word,” Coran stage whispered to Allura, who shrugged a little. 

Shiro gave up his three eights to Keith, who triumphantly laid down his newfound book, knowing he was flaunting his victory. He forgot how cutthroat the kid could be. The two of them rarely had the time to just take a second and kill time like they’ve done all day. Maybe this ended up being more productive than expected.

Every once and awhile, they forewent training and instead spent time trying to bond. Their bonding attempts soured fast. A lot of them remained defensive about their pasts, and Shiro couldn’t even fault them for it. Otherwise, he’d have to talk more about his past, and he still felt uncomfortable confessing everything aloud. He didn’t know how… Accepting this group would be.

Which, as he thought it right now, might be the most ridiculous thing he could be thinking about this particular group. While the Alteans might be close-minded, he heard about Hunk’s troubles, the other Paladins were  _ so  _ diverse. They wouldn’t… Be against more diversity.

Pidge nudged him. “You’re thinking too loud… What about?”

“Alteans, actually.” He glanced up in time to see Allura’s face light up. While her people might be gone, she delighted in talking about them. The same could be said about Coran, but he talked about them incessantly. Allura preferred to answer questions. Otherwise, she wouldn’t bring it up. “Eartherns are… A very diverse group of people. I was wondering if the same was true on Altea. Did you guys have different languages?”

“Not like that… Earth is a fairly large planet, and Altea is not.” She laughed, awkwardly. “Do you guys have different languages?”

“We do. I can only speak English.” Shiro offered a half-shrug. Keith nodded in agreement.

Pidge perked up. “I can speak English and Latin. Latin seemed like the most helpful. Then, I could start breezing my way through scientific readings, and… Ugh, don’t look at me like I’m some kind of nerd. Both Hunk and Lance are more bilingual than me. I picked mine up in school, and I can’t even speak it out loud.”

“I’m only bilingual because my parents spoke it at home.” Hunk threw up his hands in mock surrender. “And I’m very shaky on it.”

“You’re bilingual?” Keith turned to Lance.

He blew a kiss. “You surprised?”

“No! Well, kinda… What language?” Keith’s cheeks went bright red as he looked away from Lance.

With a smile, Lance turned to Allura. “I speak Spanish too. I grew up speaking it, actually; English is my second language… Do you… Are  _ you  _ speaking English?”

“Oh no. We have a universal translator on board. As long as you’re in the castle, you will understand every language!” Coran beamed. “And connecting with the lions automatically gave you one in your head! So when we leave the castle, you will be able to understand everyone! Earthern languages are a little… Convoluted.”

“Am I speaking Samoan now?” Hunk blurted. 

Shiro shook his head. “No, it still sounds like English to me—”

“That’s so awesome.” Lance bounced a little. “We can speak in any language? And it’ll come out as understandable for everyone? Wait, but what if I’m talking about something in Spanish and English?”

“I think intent comes into it.” Allura cocked her head. “Though I suppose we never really thought about that. I wasn’t the one who created the translator; it’s been around a lot longer than I have. I don’t know how it chooses direct translations or indirect… Some words don’t flow right in other languages, right?”

“Yeah… Maybe I can look into that?” Pidge grinned. 

Lance groaned. “Nerd alert. Pidgeon.”

“Yes?”

“Sixes?”

“Fuck you.”

-

“I apologize,” Allura said in the dead of night.

He knew he was the only one still awake. The others all drifted to sleep at some point in the lulls of conversation (Coran being the notable exception of speaking and nodding off mid-sentence). Keith curled up beside him, a tight ball, their spines touching, and while he doubted it was comfortable for Keith, he enjoyed the proximity more than anything else. Any more contact, and the boy might flee. Allura laid on his other side, but they kept distance enough any contact had to be deliberate, and he couldn’t see Coran anymore. He presumed the man to be on the other side of Allura.

The Garrison Trio fell asleep sitting up while the rest laid down. Lance and Pidge both leant against Hunk, and his heart ached at the apparent divisions again. One day, they’d all possess the same closeness. If not for his sake, then for everyone else. They might realize how lonely being a Paladin of Voltron is when nobody else becomes one. 

Even when they returned to Earth, the connection they forged here would be stronger than all else.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry?”

“About calling you… You know. Before.” She coughed, uncomfortable, but he waited patiently for her to finish. He didn’t know her very long, but he knew she liked having control of situations. “I didn’t understand the connotation before. Pidge pulled me aside earlier tonight to explain it to me.”

“So that’s what the snack break was about,” he mused.

Allura laughed, though it was clear she was unsure if she could laugh at that particular moment. “Yes. As you may have noticed, we didn’t return with any. She just wanted to ensure your comfort, and I admire her dedication to you.”

“She? Her?”

“Oh… I, of course, meant—”

“I have a feeling everyone suspects her.” He laughed again, a little breathier, a little more secretive. Some members of the group were a little denser than others, and  _ everyone  _ might be too ambitious of a stretch. “Or, at least, it made sense you could catch on. She doesn’t do the greatest job of hiding it.”

“I don’t understand the urge to hide it.”

“If I’m being honest,” he started, “I don’t understand either. And we haven’t gotten the chance to discuss it.”

“Oh…” The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence, and his gaze slipped to Keith’s form. He’d wake up with many aches, but right now, from the details he could make of his face, he looked peaceful. Disturbing him felt like it crossed a line. 

Shiro cleared his throat. “I understand why you don’t understand nicknames.”

“Oh?” He can  _ taste  _ her smile in that.

He gave his own smile, even if the darkness kept them both from seeing one another. “Did you know… Shiro is a nickname too?”

“Is it really?”

“Yes.” He paused. “Don’t tell the others, though. This can be our little secret… It’ll be funnier this way.”

“That’s not very fatherly of you.”

“You not keeping my secret isn’t very maternal.”

“Ah. Checkmate.”

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally going to be a 5+1 thing, and then i didn't have the motivation to get five sections in, and i really liked the go fish section haha so it became this beast. it's a little fluffier because, rumor has it, the next few episodes are angsty? At least that's what people told me haha (also any chance i get to worldbuild, i take. i love worldbuilding)


End file.
